Description
Highlights:
- Fields of gold: Understanding the Snettisham Hoards
- Iceni updates: Expanding our understanding of Venta Icenorum
- Under the infirmary: Revealing the secrets of medieval Berwick
- Hopping through the history of oast houses: From 19th-century brewing sites to luxurious living spaces
- Vanished voices? Tracing female experiences and aspirations in medieval England and Wales
- Searching for Severus: Did a Roman emperor visit Carlisle?
Happy New Year! Our cover story takes us to Snettisham in Norfolk, where a single field has yielded at least 14 Iron Age metalwork hoards. This unique collection has the potential to transform our understanding of ancient artistry and ceremonial practices – and, with analysis of the hoards now published in exciting detail, we explore what has been revealed.
From long-buried metalwork to long-buried stories, we next examine what archives and archaeology can tell us about female experiences and aspirations in medieval England and Wales, drawing on a new exhibition that defies stereotypes of women leading marginal lives during this period.
Remaining in the Middle Ages, we then learn what Berwick-upon-Tweed’s largest modern excavation has revealed about this influential border town and how it was defended during episodes of bloody Anglo-Scottish conflict.
Pausing for refreshment, our next feature traces the evolution of oast houses, their role in the history of brewing, and their residential afterlife.
Our penultimate piece draws on a site visit to Caistor St Edmund, where long-running investigations continue to reveal evidence of the Iceni people who once inhabited this landscape, and the cultural impact of contact with Rome. We close with a short follow-up to last month’s feature about the excavation of a monumental Roman building at Carlisle. In CA 418, we explored ideas of its construction being inspired by an imperial visit by Septimius Severus. Now, we discuss what historical evidence says about the emperor’s itinerary.
Finally, I would like to flag that this issue contains Joe Flatman’s 100th ‘Excavating the CA archive’ column. A marvellous milestone – thank you, Joe!
Cover Date: Feb-2025, Volume 35 Issue 11
